Pilchards abound in the Gulfs of Bothnia and Fin land, into the bays of which they arrive in shoals in spring and autumn. The pilchard fishery is one of the most important branches of industry to the inhabi tants on both sides of the Gulf of Bothnia. As soon as the ice breaks up, upwards 9f 200 families, with their children and servants, transport themselves to the rocks and islets that line the coast, where they remain fishing to the end of autumn. The annual produce of all the pilchard fisheries is estimated at 300,000 tons at least, which are entirely consum ed in the Baltic.
Salmon ascend the rivers from April to June, sc.! cording as they are free from ice. On the south, they I abound most in the Oder, Vistula, Duna, and Nar rows; on the north, in the Motala, Dalecarlia, Uleo, Kemi, Torneo, and Keymen. Salmon trout is taken in some bays of the Baltic. In the middle of the river Kemi is a small Island, where an annual sal mon fair is held. The salmon fisheries of Sweden are very considerable both in the Cattegat and the Gulf of Bothnia ; from 20,000 to 25,000 tons are salted annually.
Whales very rarely enter the Baltic. The com mon porpoise is the only one of the lesser species of cetaceous animals that lives habitually in this sea; and at Middlefart, in Funen,, is a company, which enjoy the exclusive privilege of taking it. There are two varieties of the common seal, both of which are hunted, in March and April, for their oil, by the peasants of the isle of Gothland, and of the islands in the Gulfs of Bothnia and Finland.
III. The coast of the Baltic, including under that appellation the Scagerac, the Cattegat, the Sound, and the Belts, as well as Baltic Proper, may be re garded as commencing on the north side at the Naze of Norway. This is the extremity of a rocky peninsula joined to the main by a narrow isthmus ; it is surrounded by rocks, of which those named the Bishop and Clerks, five miles to the south of the Naze, are most dangerous to navi gators. From the Naze to the East, the shore is. formed of elevated barren and _dreary rocks. The principal rivers of Norway, which fall into the Scagerac and Cattegat, are the Glommen, the Laugen, the Louen, the Drammen, the Mandal, and the Nid. At the distance of five miles from the Naze is the town of Mandal, situate on the river of that name ; from this place is exported a consider able quantity of smoked and salted salmon, esteem ed the best in Norway. About 15 miles to the east of this is Christiansand, which has a good roadstead, besides the advantage of the little river Torvedal, to the•east of the town ; it exports timber, salt, fish, and iron. Arendal, the most secure and capacious harbour in Norway, formed by the Sound between the Island of Fleckerce and the Main, succeeds. On the river Louen, is the town de Laurwig, which ex ports a great deal of iron from the founderies in its neighbourhood. The Gulf of Christiana lies some leagues to the east of it. This Gulf runs up into the land 20 leagues, and divides into several branches; the entrance to it is pointed out by the island of Fierdar, on which there is a light. The town
of Christiana stands at the top of the Gulf; its port will admit the largest vessels, there being from 30 to 40 feet water close to the quay ; its exports are fir planks and rafters, pitch, tar, soap, iron, copper, and alum ; they generally amount to L.100,000 annual ly ; the timber constituting four-fifths. There are several little villages on the Gulf, where vessels load with timber. To the east of it is a deep inlet, call ed Swinesund, which separates Norway and Sweden; it consists of two basins, the outer of which commu nicates with the inner by a very narrow strait. On the inner basin, and at the mouth of a small river, is Fredericahall, the commerce of which consists prin cipally in the export of planks, sawed by 86 mills on the river.
The Swedish shores of the Scagerac and Catte gat are high, with a most rugged and dreary appear ance, particularly near Marstrand, where the shore is lined with steep rocks projecting into the sea. The coast of Schonen forms a striking contrast to the shores of the Scagerac and Cattegat, being nearly level and free from rocks. The Swedish coast from Bleshinghar to the Gulf of Bothnia is lined with Islands and rocks, and broken Into a great number of gulfs and bays. Both shores of the Gulf of Bothnia are rugged and broken ; that of Sweden, in particular, forms an alpine ridge. The first river in Sweden, towards its western limit, is the Gotha, which empties itself into the Cattegat by two branches surrounding the island of Hysingen. This river, and the Motala, which falls into the Bay of Browick at Nordkceping, are the only rivers of consequence in the southern provinces of Sweden. Between the provinces of Scederrnanland and Upland is the lake Melia, which communicates with the Baltic at Stockholm by two currents called the north and south ; its elevation is six feet above the Baltic. The river Dahl, or great river of Dalecarlia, the Umeo, Torneo, and several others, which rise in the mountains of Lapland and Norway, fall into the Gulf of Bothnia ; the northernmost are subject to three inundations annually, the first in March or April, when the snow on the low ground melts ; the second towards the end of May, when the snow melts on the more elevated grounds ; and the last towards the end of summer, when the thaw has reached the high lands, and dissolved the glaciers. The first com mercial port of Sweden of any note is Uddevalla, a staple town ; its exports are iron, planks, and her rings. The town of Marstrand, on an island of the same name, succeeds ; it is also a staple, and its in habitants are engaged in the herring-fishery, and in supplying provisions to the vessels that run in for shelter; these exceed 300 annually. The Paternosters are dangerous rocks, some miles north of Marstrand. On the southern branch of the Gotha, some leagues from the sea, is the city of Gottenburgh ; the port is seldom closed by the ice, and is capable of receiving the largest ships; the harbour is about one-fourth of a mile m breadth, and is formed by two chains of rocks.